If I had $10,000...

WOW a shoe of the month club... sign me up!!! If only it wasn't $10,000! A girl can dream though.

Here is a more economical option through JCrew

My wish list!

So a girl knows not to get her hopes up when her cutie pie fiance asks her what she wants for Christmas only 3 days out... WHAT you don't already have all of your gifts purchased???

Let me explain Reveal something to all of you... I am a Christmaszilla. I LOVE Christmas and am typically very on top of things this time of year. All of the gifts neatly wrapped under my tree were bought (and wrapped) before Thanksgiving. In August I typically sit down and make a list and slowly purchase things. This makes me budget for the gifts and keeps me from going CRAZY last minute with my credit card.

Now I'm going to reveal an area where Matt and I differ. I come from a family that makes Christmas lists... Matt HATES that!!! He thinks that gifts should be a total surprise and that you should not tell other people what you are hoping to get.... Weird right? Well this has taken me a few years to get use to. For a while I would TRY to give Matt hints but after those went unanswered I learned to just give up and wish for the best. (YES this leads to very random gifts... ) So this year I didn't say anything. I didn't make a wish list. So last night when my sweetie asked those little words "What do you want for Christmas?" I knew we were in trouble...  That means that Matt is up against a wall and hasn't given Christmas a thought up until this point

So... I'm thinking that it is already too late at this point since Matt ONLY shops on-line. But here is what is on my wish list this year...

 

Trellis Allover Stencil

by: Cutting Edge Stencils

How much fun would it be to paint an accent wall or even a ceiling with this fun and versatile stencil??? This would be such a fun project to tackle AFTER the wedding.

 I could even use the stencil for smaller projects. Look at this great tray that I found on a GREAT blog Isabella & Max Rooms

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UGG Snow Boot

From: Nordstrom

How cute are these snow boots. I was thinking that I wanted a pair of the original Ugg boots in black this Christmas but after seeing this snow boot I'm changing my mind! Bring on the snow (AFTER January 29th)

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A Cozy Robe

From: Nordstrom

It may come as a surprise but I do not own a comfy cozy robe like the one above!

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Tile

 

Yes you read that right... I would be ecstatic to receive some gorgeous tile for a special project that I would LOVE to take on after the wedding... MY DREAM LAUNDRY ROOM

Now I HATE doing laundry but I cannot help but think that my motivation would increase if I could have a room like the one bellow found on Never Without

Our laundry room is HUGE but uninspiring. I want to install a new floor, Drywall and something to hide our ugly utility thingies (aka hot water heater and other things to make a house function). On my dream Laundry Room list I would have the following:

Counter top

Storage for Dishes

Drawers for entertaining accessories

Functional overflow area for pantry goods

Wrapping Paper Section

Scrapbooking/Craft storage

I want this room to be so rocking and gorgeous that it becomes my mommy cave!Oh the endless possibilities

I know that this room is on the BOTTOM of Matt's priority list for the house but FYI to him I plan to make this my main focus after the wedding!

Apartment Love!

This gorgeous apartment proves you can do so much with a small space. It's only 540 square feet, but it's packed with style. I love the pops of color and the bathroom is AMAZING.

This apartment was featured in MiCasa.The site is in Spanish but all I care about are the GREAT home photos!

One Line a Day...

I stumbled upon the book/journal/keepsake One Line a Day: A Five-Year Memory Book (Five Year Memory Book)on Amazon.com today. I instantly thought it would be the cutest gift for many different occasions.

A birthday: So your friend can record five years of great birthday memories from that day and beyond.

A wedding/bridal shower: So your friend can record five years of memories with her new hubby. 

A baby shower: So your friend can record how much life changes over five years while watching their little one grow up.

I feel like I want to buy ten copies and just in case I ever need a last-minute, but very thoughtful gift.

Waiting to get Engaged...

Let me explan my feeling on waiting to get engaged:

After starting the home buying process last winter I began growing more and more impatient waiting for him to propose. I went through a lot of ups and downs. I mean, it is an incredibly frustrating experience when you know someone loves you, yet you constantly find yourself wondering, "What the hell are they waiting for?!" Meanwhile, me, the over-thinker, tosses and turns at night thinking and stressing over every last idea of why he is waiting so long and if it is ever going to happen. I would go through periods of insecurity, then acceptance and my patience would return; then, I'd get a little bitter for a moment before telling myself again to just be patient. I CONSTANTLY scrolled through wedding blogs and had totally caught wedding fever. However, after nearly four years of dating, I was so ready! I apologize for all the friends and family who have endured my endless whining and moaning over how badly I wanted this, but let me say now that I'm glad it worked out the way it did. And ladies, if you find yourself in the postition I was in, I'm sure you can relate. But, as a word from the wise, be patient, it all works out in the end!

If you know me, you know I'm not the kind of person who likes to wait and wait for something I REALLY want. I get pushy until the point it starts to make me crazy (like I mentioned above).



How we met...

Matt and I met at the Vice President's 2006 Holiday Parties.

I was acting as the Volunteer Coordinator at that time and as much as Matt does not like to admit it… he was a volunteer. That year we were short on military volunteers and so we put out the word to the Pentagon that we needed help. One of Matt's co-workers convinced him to help with all three of the parties. Despite the odds of us not having the most favorable first impressions of each other (I thought that he was conceded and he thought I was bossy... maybe true statements) we ended up talking about my need for employment post graduation.

After the events Matt offered to circulate my resume around The Pentagon we started e-mailing. I learned that Matt was extremely handy and that he lived close to me in Annandale. Matt had just completed a huge remodel on his kitchen and I decided that I wanted to get him some kitchen items as a thank you for all of his help circulating my resume around The Pentagon. When I mentioned that I had something that I was going to send into the Pentagon for him he suggested that I drop it by his house to see his handiwork. Loving all things home improvement I couldn't resist…

When I arrived Matt had an AMAZING meal prepared and casually invited me to stay for dinner... Smooth move! That was the day he won me over! While having a great meal with his roommates I was able to learn a lot more about Matt and the fact that he went above and beyond to do something to get to know me was amazing… Now almost four years later here we are!

My Fall...

So After being MIA on the blog for so long I almost don't know how to begin... There are SOOO many things to post about so I've decided to do a little run down of our fall...

1. We closed on our house on September 17th. After the closing Matt Proposed (More on this story later!)

2. We are all moved in... there are some more boxes to unpack in the garage but we are getting there!

3. Emma is going GREAT! She is in Daisies and playing Soccer with the same group of girls as last spring and loving it... Who know though that 1st grade soccer would have so many rules and be competitive.

4. The wedding planning is in full swing and in just under three months I will be Mrs. Park!!! AHHH

5. Work is going well! Was able to help out on a CRAZY trip and in only ten days went to Hawaii, Guam, Singapore, South Korea, Japan & Alaska.

6. We are getting ready for Thanksgiving in Chicago.

So that is a VERY abbreviated version of some things that have been going on in the Fleming/ Park Household! More to come on all!

Emma's First Day of School

Emma had a GREAT first day of school! Her Dad came over this morning and we took her over to the new house so that she could ride the bus on her first day. After school we did some homework and headed out for some pizza to celebrate the special day!

ALSO... Matt tested out of his last college class making this a HUGE day for two of my favorite people! Emma started the new school year while Matt finished!!! YAY

Yummy Cake & Cupcakes for Matt & Emma

Labor Day Weekend

Emma and I had a VERY productive weekend. I finally made the Dollar Store Hurricanes that I have been wanting to try to make... It was SUPER EASY! I bought 4 candle stick holders for tapered candles and 2 large and two small hurricane holders... and with some crazy glue this is what Emma and I ended up with... 

Not too bad for $2.00 a piece for the glassware and $2.00 a piece for the fillers used... so not too shabby for $4.00 total... Just look at these from Pottery Barn  for $16.00 - $39.00 a piece. 

Emma and I also did some DIY projects for her new bedroom. She is requesting that we paint the room light purple so I thought that some new accessories in dark purple would fit in well. 

So we covered up the Lilly Pulitzer...  

and I armed Emma with some spray paint... 

we went from a a mixture of clearance items from Home Goods 

to uniformed accessories for the new room!!! 

I cannot wait to show you all what they end up looking like. 

So I have been cooking a LITTLE bit... not as much as I should be. Here are some photos from the last few weeks.

First a visit to the Falls Church Farmers Market... 

And some yummy meals made with farm fresh ingredients... 

Linguine with Pancetta and Sautéed Cherry Tomatoes p. 208

Heirloom Tomato w/ burrata Cheese Salad p. 128

Old-Fashioned Blueberry Muffins p.537

Our FAVORITE French Toast  (made once a week)

Cinnamon French Toast p. 493

Chicken Thighs w/ Creole Mustard-Orange Sauce p.280

Here are the meals that I am planning on making for the remainder of our week.

Wednesday
- Chicken Piccata p.255
- Peas w/ Roasted Onions & Mint p.461

Thursday
- Pasta w/ Pecorino Romano & Black Pepper p.212

Friday 
- Garlic-Roasted Shrimp w/ Red pepper & Smoked Paprika p.352

Saturday (going to the farmers market)
- Four-Herb Omelet p.502
- Roast Chicken w/ Cumin, Paprika & All-Spice p.286
- Saffron Couscous w/ Peas & Chives p.228
- Blueberry Crisp w/ Cinnamon-Streusel Topping p.655

Sunday
- Tomato-Mozzarella Pizza w/ Phyllo Crust p.181
- Milk Chocolate Fondue w/ Strawberries p.660

Weekend plans

With all of my packing last night I did not get to my weekend menu but for tonight we will be having :

Grilled Chicken w/ Chimichurri Sauce p. 254

Guacamole

Mexican Rice

After work I will run by the grocery store to get my ingredients and also by Home Depot to buy a few more moving boxes. I think that with each visit I am going to by 3 of each of the sizes (Small, Medium, large) and once those are packed up I will make another visit to our nearby Home Depot... this will let me pack everything up in small chunks and not feel overwhelmed by the amount of boxes in my house... At what point did I accumulate so much STUFF???

Also, tonight I want to plan out what we will be eating for the remainder of the weekend. With the exception of fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs I would really like to use things that we currently have in the house.

Saturday

After a yummy breakfast with Emma and Matt I would like to spend an hour going through a few things in the attic. Currently, we have a HUGE attic space and it is used as a catch all and it is completely unorganized!

After my hour of organizing/packing I want to take Emma to University Mall to see Shrek Ever After and we need to do a little back to school shopping / get our back to school haircut.

Of course we will have our usual Saturday night movie night and this will most likely involve a movie about a dog...

Sunday

I would like to have some pool time and show Matt the new sofa that I would like to get for the house.

Monday

Matt and I will be taking off from work and we will be taking Emma to...

She really wants to go to Disney World and we are thinking about taking her next Spring but before we make the commitment I want to see how she will handle Busch Gardens! It should be a GREAT day and  I will be sure to take a ton of photos!

Pork Chops w/ Chili Maple Sauce

Tonight as promised I made Pork chops w/ Chili Maple Sauce p. 404.

The recipe is really for pork medallians but right now Matt and I are trying to eat the food from the deep freezer. We really want to minimize the stuff that we will have to move over to the new house. I also made some homemade potato chips... A very yummy dinner! and super fast and easy to accomplish while I was busy... PACKING

Yes, I started packing today. One the way home from work I stopped by Home Depot to pick up some moving boxes (their on sale this week) and I grabbed a large roll of bubble wrap for photos/artwork/decorations. I've completed 10 boxes from the spare bedroom and my plan is to use this room for box storage and pack a little bit up of the house up each day! Tomorrow I'm going to break down the bed finish up the room... with the exception of the closet which is currently full of my work clothes.

Cooking...

So this post originally started with the goal to cook 500 recipes within a year from:

 

The Bon Appetit Cookbook: Fast Easy Fresh

I hate to admit it but I have failed... 

Towards the end of winter I hit a major road block and it has become a struggle to cook out of this cookbook. Each week I plan a menu and buy all of my groceries and proceed to massively fail at my follow through.

I'm currently at 387 recipes so with only 113 to go I've decided to renew my little project. Tonight I will post my menu for the remainder of the week along with photos of the pork chops that I will be making for dinner!

Emma's Plans

I am SOOO excited to be planning Emma's new room. She is very opinionated about what she wants in her new room and has in fact been planning for this for months!

She would like a LOFT bed with a desk and bookcase under it... here is what our look board is currently looking like for Emma's room... (Yes, I do have a look board for EVERY room in the new house... I'm a planner)

Emma found the PB Teen loft bed in a magazine and fell in LOVE with it... I however was not in love with the $1799 price tag when it comes to a bed for my 6 year old! Especially when she does not even need a new bed. I found the plans for the same exact bed on a WONDERFUL website Knock-Off Wood. This website is amazing! They already have all of the measurements figured out and give you step by step instructions!

This is going to be one of the first big projects that Matt and I will be completing in the new house!

Home inspection follow up...

Our realtor says that he likes it when it rains during a home inspection. It allows for you to see how the house handles the water... I'm sure that we can all agree that we do NOT like it when trees fall on our cars during the home inspection...

Matt and our agent were on the screened in porch talking about the rain. Matt was contemplating moving his car up to the driveway because a few small limbs were starting to break off the trees around the house... and CRASH... **insert MULTIPLE bad words here**

This is the view from the driveway... at this point I was thinking that maybe my car was far enough away... The little Silver prius is our agents car (bought TWO weeks ago) the hood and drivers side of the home inspectors van was crushed by the largest part of the tree trunk.

And I turned The corner at the end of the drive ways and found this...

Yes... that little sliver of red through all of those branches is my Escape

And from the Side... After climbing through all of the branches (in my work clothes)

After a lot of cutting we were able to get the cars out... Thanks to the wonderful Fairfax County Fire Department

I should hear from my insurance company today... On a positive note we were able to meet a few of our future neighbors and they were all so kind and helpful.

And in home news... we will be meeting with the seller today to go over a few things.

Home Inspection Tomorrow!

After 7 LONG months I am so happy to say that we are under contract for this home and scheduled to close on September 17th!

The house is extremely close to where we are currently living and even a little closer to my parents.

The only negative is that Emma will be changing schools for first grade : ( We have LOVED Beech Tree and I'm sad that she is no longer in that school zone. Not only were the teachers amazing but there were such GREAT girls in her class with wonderful parents! Luckily we are still in the area and will be able to have play dates and I've just signed Emma up for fall soccer with the same group of girls from her old school. Ehhh old school... I hate the sound of that!

On a more positive note... we will be doing our home inspections tomorrow! This is going to be a bit of a family affair. Matt and I will both be taking off early to attend the inspection and while Matt is following the certified inspector around my dad and I will be mapping out the house. My dad is an architect and I'm going to put his skills to use and have him draw a "blue print" of the home... I think that this will be helpful for SO many projects that we will be undertaking before moving in. Righ now my mind is focused on purchasing blinds, purchasing living room furniture and planing the layout of all of our new rooms! I LOVE home decorating so this is going ot be a blast!!

I would also love my dad's input/help with the addition that we are considering for the house! This will be a few years down the road but Matt and I have some big plans for the house. It is a place that we can see ourselves in for the long run and I could not be happier!

A new addition to the Fleming Family!

Last weekend Matt and I drove down to Savannah, GA to meet the newest Fleming!

WILLIAM ALAN FLEMING!

He is so adorable and I will let the photos speak for themselves. On Saturday evening we went out on a golf course so all of the guys could practice their game and Emma and her cousin Claire could run around. The lighting was perfect and I managed to get some great shots of the happy Fleming Family!

Here is a new family picture!

And a few of the always cute Claire!